Pallet Prodiges
by TheGreatWhiteNortherner
Summary: Slightly AU, Professor Oak has retired from being a trainer and believes the current system to be flawed. He sets about changing things in Pallet Town, so his grandson and the kids his age will be able to grow into powerful and world savvy trainers. With his vast experience he will mentor the 5 Pallet children and then unleash them on an unprepared world.
1. PP Ch1

Please enjoy.

* * *

**Pallet Prodigies**

_Written By: TheGreatWhiteNortherner_

* * *

**Official Pokémon Trainers Handbook**

**Trainer Ranks:**

At the age of ten any boy or girl may apply for their Pokémon license. If deemed worthy their local Pokémon League office will supply them with a Pokédex, regional starter Pokémon, and five additional pokéballs.

All beginning trainers are given the rank of novice. Novice level trainers may carry up to six Pokémon and compete in single battles of 1 vs 1 - 6 vs 6. Novice trainers travel around their region and compete against Gym Leaders. Every town has a gym. If a novice level trainer is able to obtain eight gym badges they are then given the rank of journeyman.

Journeyman level trainers are able to compete in their local region tournaments. Trainers are allowed to carry up to twelve Pokémon at this level. And any official journeyman level battles are double battles between all twelve Pokémon. Once a year each region hosts its Grand Tournament. Only journeyman who have obtained another four badges by competing against gym leaders in a journeyman level match may attend. At the Grand Tournament, journeyman face off against other journeyman in preliminary matches. 128 of the region's best journeyman then battle to decide that year's top journeyman.

Expert level trainers are journeyman who were able to defeat and obtain eight total badges from gym leaders in journeyman level battles. At the level of expert a trainer is allowed to carry eighteen Pokémon and when competing against another expert they fight triple battles of 18 vs 18. Any expert level trainer is allowed to compete in the Grand Tournament. At this point in the tournament experts compete till 128 remain. These 128 go on to battle down to determine that year's top expert level trainer. If a trainer wins eight badges in expert level matches they are promoted to challenger rank.

Challenger level trainers may carry 24 Pokémon and battle one another in quad battles. Which means four Pokémon are fighting at the same time for each trainer. Challenger level trainers fight one another until only 128 remain in the Grand Tournament. This is where the pattern ends. The remaining trainers then battle through several rounds till only eight remain. These remaining trainers are allowed to take the Elite Four challenge.

That aside, to compete at this level in the tournament, trainers must travel around and win two badges from gym leaders in challenger level matches. All gym leaders are considered high level challenger level trainers. But use weaker teams against the other level trainers. Their true teams are what a challenger level trainer must face. So if you can beat two then you should perform well in the challenger level of the Grand Tournament and are likely to be given a chance to take on the Elite Four.

For the Elite Four challenge, any of the eight remaining trainers are allowed to compete against the Elite Four. The Elite Four are considered to be the four strongest elite rank trainers in the region. Elite level trainers are trainers who manage to beat one of the four Elite Four. They may then take that trainers position or not. However beating one of the Elite Four grants one the rank of elite. An elite level trainer may carry up to 30 Pokémon and battles against other elites in matches where five Pokémon fight on each side at the same time. When challenging the Elite Four a trainer may choose the order in which they battle the first three elites but the fourth elite, who is considered to be the strongest of the group must be fought last. If a challenger level trainer or an elite level trainer manages to defeat all four trainers they are then allowed to battle the region's Pokémon Champion. Elite level trainers may challenge the Elite Four as often as once a month.

A region's Champion is a master level trainer, the highest level trainer within the League. A master level trainer carries 36 Pokémon and fights battles of six Pokémon a side at the same time. Master level battles are very rare. As are master level trainers. To achieve the rank of master a trainer must beat their regions Elite 4 and manage to beat at least 25/30 of the current Champion's Pokémon. The elite level trainer facing the champion will battle in an elite level battle. If they beat 25/30 they are then considered a master level trainer. They cannot take the title of champion without competing in a true master level battle. So even defeating the current champion in an elite level battle would still only earn you master rank. A master rank trainer may challenge their region's Champion as often as every six months. Currently no region has more the four master level trainers residing within it and no region has ever had more than eight master level trainers at the same time.

Every ten years a tournament is held. The Masters Tournament. This is a tournament held only between master level trainers. Trainers fight against one another till one emerges as the master of masters. This trainer has earned the title The Pokémon Master. Since the Leagues inception there have been 21 Pokémon Masters. No one has ever managed to win it twice. Supposedly there is a special series of rooms. There are five total rooms. They are only accessible after winning the tournament and within the first room was a black cape which the trainer is allowed to wear till they are displaced as the Pokémon Master. The other four rooms will supposedly only open one at a time if a trainer is able to concurrently win the tournament till they have won five times in a row unlocking the fifth room. No one knows what lies inside the other rooms. But if a trainer were able to maintain the title for 50 years it would be possible to find out.

Some other facts for trainers:

Journeyman and expert level trainers make up the bulk of trainers in every region. However challenger level still has a fairly high population of trainers. Elite level trainers are much rarer than challenger level trainers, and master level trainers are very few. Most trainers either pass from novice to journeyman quickly or quit being trainers.

Commanding more than three Pokémon at once is considered to be very difficult which is why most trainers never pass from the challenger tier as they find the commanding four Pokémon at once hard and are not able to compete against the ones who can.

Gym Leaders are appointed by a region's champion and cannot be challenged for their position.

**End of Section**

* * *

_In a lab in Pallet Town_

Samuel Oak had lived a long and exciting life as a Pokémon trainer. But now at the age of 55 he had retired from Pokémon training and taken up his new passion in life as a Pokémon professor and researcher. During his career he had witnessed many things, and had formed several strong opinions, that how the League currently functioned needed to be changed.

He had once been in the position to change it. However when he was the Kanto champion the last thing on his mind was changing the rules of the League. And while he had been the Pokémon Master he had been far too preoccupied to put a real vested effort into a reform.

Now however he was the local licenser for Pallet Town. His hometown and the town where his young grandson was seven years old. Oak didn't want Gary to begin his journey at the young age of ten. Oak thought it was incredibly stupid and irresponsible for the League to expect ten year old children with one weak beginner Pokémon to be able to live in the wild while they traveled from town to town to challenge for badges. With his new found position as the licenser for Pallet Town, Oak had decided to try and put the plans he had put off for too long into effect. He knew it would take lots of time from his research but he knew it would be worth it.

Oak spent the next year creating a program with which he would educate and mold the future generations of Pallet Town into strong trainers and well-rounded people.

* * *

_Three Years Later_

Ash Ketchum was ten years old. He was on the short side for kids his age, he had messy raven colored hair and innocent amber eyes. He had two odd lightning shaped birthmarks, one under each eye. And he had the biggest grin his mother had ever seen. Delia Ketchum stood in the same room as her son trying not to laugh as Ash grinned like a mad man while watching someone, a challenger level trainer, battle one of the Elite Four on TV. Ash was so excited because tomorrow he would be able to get his starter Pokémon and begin his journey as a novice trainer. His quest, his goal, no his dream was to become a master level trainer. Then he wanted to be the Pokémon Master but he thought, no he knew deep down inside that he could be the first back to back Pokémon Master and be the first to open the second room. And this line of thinking was why his face was close to splitting from his grin.

Little did he know however tomorrow Oak was finally going to unveil his hidden project and change the way Pallet trainers started their Pokémon journey.

_Next Day_

Ash woke up bright and early, he was so excited he had barely slept anyway. He knew he would be feeling the lack of sleep later that day but he figured his excitement on his first day as a trainer would help him cope. Rushing down stairs he greeted his mother and happily devoured the breakfast she laid out before him.

"Ash honey, listen to me for a moment won't you?" His mother asked.

Ash noticed something strange about her tone but thought nothing of it. "Sure mom," he responded after swallowing a large bite of pancake.

"Ash, I know you are really excited about going on a journey starting today," His mother paused for several seconds. "However Professor Oak asked me and the parents of every other kid who was going to get a Pokémon today if he could try something different with you five... And we all agreed we thought it would be a great idea."

"What was his idea mom?" Ash asked feeling slightly worried.

"I won't tell you now, Samuel wants to explain it to you guys at the same time. But listen to me ok. If you really want to become the Pokémon Master you should do exactly as Samuel says. I will let you in on a little secret but you can't tell anyone," Ash quickly nodded still confused as to what his mother was getting at. But he knew it was important so he tried to take her words as serious advice. "Professor Oak used to be the Pokémon Master. 20 years ago he won the title. He is a very skilled Pokémon trainer and believe me when I say he knows what's best for the five of you."

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew the names of the last ten Pokémon Masters by heart, but he had never imagined that Gary's grandfather was one in the same. Unsure how to respond Ash simply nodded to his mother and finished his meal in silence absorbing their conversation.

_Oak Laboratory_

Ash was currently in a waiting room with four other kids. He knew them all rather well. Since Pallet was such a small town they were the only kids his age in his age group. Ash was lost in thought from his conversation earlier with his mother. Gary was smirking to himself with a far off look, probably imagining winning the title of Pokémon Master easily since he was after all 'The Great Gary Oak'. The other three were fidgeting in their chairs partly from excitement and mostly from nervousness. Every situation a ten year old could imagine they were currently imagining then ruining it and their careers as trainers, only adding to their nervousness. Finally a lab assistant opened the door and spoke.

"Professor Oak will see you now. Right this way."

Broken from their thoughts they all stood up and quickly filed out the door into the hall which led towards the center of the lab. When they entered they saw five chairs arrayed before Professor Oak who was calmly sitting in a chair in front of the semi-circle of unoccupied chairs.

"Come and sit down please." Oak spoke before the kids could move from the doorway.

"Hello and welcome. You five are all here to begin your Pokémon journey and as Pallet Town's Pokémon League licenser it is my job to provide you with your starters and Pokédex. Legally I can't not give you a starter and a Pokédex. However after talking it over with your parents they have decided to accept my plan and as such whether you like it or not you will not be setting out on a Pokémon journey," Raising his hand to stop the oncoming rage and complaints. Oak spoke again.

"You are all very young and inexperienced, the way the League allows ten year olds to venture out into the wilderness confuses me and has lead me to this new idea. As such for the next eight years until you are eighteen you will stay in the town of Pallet and study under me. I have much I can teach you about Pokémon. While you will stay novice level trainer longer than normal I promise you with my guidance you will easily all make it to the level of challenger. After that it will be all up to you to see if you can continue on and become one of the rare few Pokémon masters. Currently Kanto has the fewest compared with the other regions. Kanto is the only region with a single active master. That is, we only have one while all the other regions at least have two. Now to give you a basic outline, today I will give you your starter and give you the rest of the day off to play around with and get to know your starter better. For most trainers their starter becomes their best friend and their strongest Pokémon. Creating an early bond with them will help you along the way to becoming a master."

Oak had taken all the children's frantic and sometimes angry questions. With the exception of Ash, he took his mother's and Oak's words to heart. He knew that he really had no idea what to do on his journey, but with Professor Oak mentoring him he knew he was set on the right path. What surprised Oak the most was Ash Ketchum, a boy he knew rather well, and knowing him well he expected the most opposition to his mentor ship plan from Ash, but the boy hadn't said a single word since he had called them into the room.

'I will have to talk to Delia about it later,' he thought to himself. 'Now to get on with it, their questions are becoming repetitive,' Oak stood up to gain their attention.

"Alright now, no more questions let's get you your starting Pokémon. Now this is the largest group of trainers at one time Pallet has ever had. As such I must apologize but the League didn't send me enough starters. I have two Squirtle's a Bulbasaur and a Charmander. But don't worry I took it upon myself to go catch a fifth Pokémon so you would all get one. It isn't a normal starter but I imagine one of you can get along with him just as well."

Ash spoke up before the others. He could never decide between the three starters and so he immediately jumped at the chance of getting a different Pokémon. "Professor I will take whatever Pokémon it is you caught," Surprising everyone as Ash hadn't spoken once all day. Which was opposite of his normal loud mouthed antics.

Oak was surprised but found a small bit of respect for the boy for volunteering to take it without him even saying what kind of Pokémon it was. "Alright, Ash since you seem to want to be surprised I won't tell you what's in the ball," he said while pulling out a pokéball from his pocket and handing it over to Ash. "As for the rest of you, feel free to line up and choose from the four others I have."

The kids quickly lined up and chose. Gary got a Squirtle, and another boy Blue got a Squirtle as well. There other two of the group were girls. One named Leaf took the Bulbasaur while the fourth to choose, Ruby was her name acquired Charmander. They all four released their Pokémon and greeted them. Ash just stood off to the side staring at the pokéball in his hand.

'In here is who will probably be my new best friend,' Ash thought. 'With this guy I will become the greatest Pokémon master ever,' without another thought Ash let a grin split his face and he threw the pokéball high in the air.

"Go Pokéball!" He exclaimed. Everyone was secretly relieved to see Ash acting a bit more normal. In a flash of light a small figure appeared from the pokéball. A small, in Pokémon terms anyway, yellow mouse appeared. He stood about two feet tall and had two long black tipped ears and a lightning bolt shaped tail, he had several brown stripes on his back. On his cheeks were matching red circles and he had a small cute face with black eyes.

"Pikachu!" The small mouse exclaimed.

'A Pikachu huh?' Ash thought to himself.

"Hey there little guy," Ash walked up to the newly appeared Pokémon and greeted him. "My name is Ash Ketchum and if you want I would like to be friends with you."

Pikachu was preparing to zap the boy in front of him as he didn't really like humans, but something about the boy stopped him, he wasn't sure maybe it was a look in the boy's eyes or his tone of voice. All Pikachu knew was that something about the boy seemed to say to him that he should be friends with him as the boy was being genuine. What Pikachu didn't know was that Ash had unconsciously activated his aura slightly for the first time and had used it to silently communicate his feelings to Pikachu.

"Alright everyone, be back here tomorrow at eight o'clock and bring your Pokémon. The rest of the day I want you to spend playing with your Pokémon," Oak said as he dismissed the kids. With that said the kids and their Pokémon walked out to go show their new Pokémon around Pallet Town as a group. They were all talking excitedly and slightly bragging about how awesome they thought their respective Pokémon was compared to the others. Pikachu didn't feel like walking so he sprang up and landed on Ash's right shoulder. Slightly surprised but happy that Pikachu had no problem being close to him Ash just silently looked at Pikachu and smiled. Little did they know all the crazy adventures they would have in the next eight years. Most of them courtesy of Oak's so called tutelage skills.


	2. PP Ch2

**Official Pokémon Trainer's Handbook**

**Trainer Battles:**

As a Pokémon trainer you will find yourself in need of cash. The League donates 1000 poke-bucks to every beginning trainer. Trainers can use this starting amount to purchase extra supplies such as potions, antidotes, repels, and more pokéballs. However should a trainer battle another trainer it will be recorded by their Pokédex and the loser of the battle is expected to give 5-10% of their total Poké-bucks to the winner. To the victor goes the spoils.

Unofficial matches are any battles that isn't in a tournament or against a gym leader for a badge. Trainers engage is unofficial matches all the time to gain experience and hone their skills. These battles are fought using agreed upon rules. Most commonly trainer will battle at whatever level the lower ranked trainer is at.

For a short battle, trainers will often engage in 1vs1 single battles where their strongest Pokémon face off. Novice trainer are very eager and will almost always challenge someone to a full 6vs6 single battle. Journeyman are likewise always trying to get all their Pokémon involved to gain experience. By fighting 12vs12 double battles. Beyond that, matches tend to take too long so most trainers only participate in higher level matches when they are official.

A record of your battles is kept on your Pokédex and every trainer's record can be looked up. All official matches are recorded and stored on the trainer's profile. This helps the League keep track of a trainer's growth as well as monitor some trainers to see that they aren't abusing their Pokémon, or that they aren't pushing them to hard and potentially permanently injuring them.

Unofficial battles are very important to a trainer's growth and it is recommended that a trainer never turn one down if they have the time. As you can learn more by battling often verse never battling. No trainer with less than 1000 poke-bucks has to hand over their money should they lose. The transfer of money is handled by both trainer's Pokédexes.

**End of Section**

* * *

_Pallet Town, Professor Oak's Laboratory_

Pikachu was confused. He had always detested humans, he believed they captured and forcefully enslaved Pokémon and didn't think they cared about their health or safety. So when he was captured all he could think about was how to fight back against the future torture and slavery and to eventually escape. When he was finally released his plan was to immediately release a Thunder Shock and sprint away. However the first thing he saw upon release was a young boy with black hair and brown eyes staring at him with a big smile. For some reason he hesitated and the boy took the opening not realizing it even existed.

"Hey there little guy," the boy walked up to the newly appeared Pokémon and greeted him. "My name is Ash Ketchum and if you want I would like to be friends with you." Something about the boy made Pikachu want to believe his words. It was like a feeling emanated from the boy and made Pikachu trust what he said. Now that doesn't mean Pikachu trusts the boy, this Ash Ketchum, but he was now willing to give him a chance for perhaps Pikachu had the wrong opinion of humans.

He spent the rest of the day outside his pokéball playing with the boy and exploring his surroundings. The boy explained to him that they were in the town of Pallet, and that he had just begun his Pokémon training career today. The genuine excitement and happiness could be felt just by being around the boy. At this point Pikachu realized what it was, this boy had an extremely strong aura presence and was somehow unconsciously activating it with his heightened emotions. As today he was bursting with emotions and he literally couldn't contain them. He had been quiet and serious all day while Oak explained what was going to happen. But now his exuberance was free to flow outward. After leading Pikachu all around town Ash decided to show him his house and introduce his mother.

Arriving home Ash called out, "Mom! I'm home." His mother came through the doorway to the kitchen and smiled at him.

"Hello honey, ooooh is that a Pikachu!" Before Ash could reply she had stepped forward and picked the Pokémon up. She started giving him a big hug. Now while Pikachu was starting to trust and maybe even like the boy who said he wanted to be friends. He still didn't like humans, and this woman was no natural aura adept, so not sure of her intentions and not use at all use to being squeezed Pikachu let loose a strong Thunder Shock.

"PIKA... CHUUU!" His cry rang out amid the buzzing and crackling of the electric energy as it zapped everything around him, Ash and his mother were not spared and bore the brunt of the electric rodents attack. After getting some feeling back Ash stood up and quickly helped his mother to her feet.

"Ash honey, has Pikachu been like that all day to you? And why do you have a Pikachu, that isn't a Kanto starter?" his mother asked while brushing herself off.

"No mom Pikachu has been kinda distant but he hasn't attacked me or anyone else. As for why I have him, Professor Oak had to go catch a fifth Pokémon since the League only sent him four starters, it is extremely rare for Pallet to even have three trainers start at the same time but five, well they just didn't have one they could send our way. But I'm happy with Pikachu, I could never decide which of the starters I wanted anyway, I like this alternative," Ash responded to his mother's questions.

"Oh well it seems he doesn't like humans very much seeing as he shocked me right off the bat, he must just like you. And I can understand why, you are a very special boy the both of us can agree to that!" His mother chimed back with a happy smile.

"Mooooom," Ash groaned. "Don't say such things you will embarrass me. Anyway, I'm sorry Pikachu shocked you. Professor Oak said that today I should try to form a bond with him and I've been trying but he also said if we needed help or advice when we meet tomorrow he will help if he can."

Finishing up their small conversation Ash's mother agreed with what he said and then told him to go find Pikachu who seemed to have scampered off after he escaped her clutches. She told him she was going to go finish making lunch.

As it turns out Pikachu had found Ash's room and was trying to stick his tail into one of the electric outlets in the room.

"Pikachu," Ash called out. "I am sorry if my mom scared you when she picked you up. But she is very nice and I promise she won't hurt you."

The mouse looked up at Ash with a frown on his face. He figured the woman meant him no harm if she was him mother, however he just wasn't ready for that kind of interaction.

"Pika pika Pi pi chu," he tried to tell Ash he didn't like contact like that. Ash sadly had no idea what his new partner was saying.

"I am sorry buddy, but I don't understand you. But since lunch isn't ready yet would you like to go play in the forest out back for a while? Pikachu live in forests from what I know about them and I am sure you would like it there, it is a very nice forest." Pikachu nodded to Ash and followed him outside and into the forest. They were walking for about fifteen minutes, Pikachu had been springing through the branches, feeling almost at ease in a familiar setting. When they came upon a creek, they turned and followed it up stream for about five more minutes.

Ash knew where they were headed. He often went this way because it led to a small lake surrounded by a meadow in the middle of the forest. Lots of wild Pokémon would gather here and he could sometimes get them to play with him. Other times he would simply sit and watch them. When they neared the clearing he heard loud screeches and caws. It sounded almost like a group of angry Spearow. But Ash knew there wasn't a local Spearow flock so he was confused.

Entering the clearing he saw a group of at least fifteen Spearow and to his astonishment several Murkrow were mixed in the group. They appeared to be flying and occasionally diving down to a small green lump on the ground. Ash recognized what was happening, this flock was pecking and most likely attempting to kill whatever Pokémon had drawn their ire. He couldn't tell by looking what the small green creature was, but he knew it needed his help.

Without thinking Ash yelled out, "Hey you! Leave that Pokémon alone." Pikachu instantly tensed up. He could hear what the birds were saying. And they were out for blood. They didn't care whose and the more the better from what they said. He knew his Thunder Shock could maybe bring down two-thirds of the birds if he gave it all he had. But currently he was weakened from being crammed in that ball for so long and he had released a decent sized shock earlier. His reserves were around 50% currently, meaning he could down around one-third of the birds.

However that was not an option, as there would still be plenty of them left and he would be exhausted from giving his all into the Thunder Shock. Perhaps his trainer could save him? Pikachu didn't know but he didn't trust the human to save him over itself. Before Pikachu could decide what to do, the Spearow had abandoned their play toy and flew at Ash. The Murkrow flew up high into the air. As this happened a huge boom of thunder sounded through the clouds that had been forming and a torrent of rain started pelting down. Pikachu was hiding in a tree on the edge of the clearing. Ash ignored the rain and saw the Spearow flying his way.

Ash made his mind up before he even knew what he was going to do. His body acted before the thought fully registered and he sprinted at the crowd of approaching Spearow. Thinking the boy meant to fight them head on, the Spearow in his path parted so as to not get hit by whatever trickery this human had. But instead of lashing out with something, Ash ignored the Spearow and ran through the cloud of them. He reached the mass of green, and saw that it was bleeding badly and was terribly cut up. With red gashes and blood pouring over it, Ash could not identify the Pokémon, he didn't care however and tried to be as gentle as possible as he picked it up.

The rain had really started pouring now and the Spearow were pissed that the boy had fooled them and that their prey was now in his hands. The rain did nothing to improve their mood. Having forgot the Murkrow Ash was unprepared for when they dive bombed him and one's beak tore into his left shoulder. His cry of pain was drowned out by another thunderous boom.

Pikachu was shocked, almost ironic that an electric Pokémon could be shocked, but he was. This human had just ran right into and then through a flock of Spearow to try to rescue a Pokémon. And it even seemed like he had sort of succeeded except he now had to get back. When all the sudden the Murkrow descended and ripped into his shoulder. An emotion started welling up inside Pikachu but he didn't have time to think about it.

Acting quickly as he noticed Ash was still carrying the wounded Pokémon and was now running back his way. Pikachu jumped off his branch and released a Thunder Wave into the flock. It bounced among them and managed to paralyze about half of them. This left Pikachu with about 30% left inside him and he knew he would run out quick sprinting back through the forest. The Spearow unprepared for the sudden attack flew around in every direction and looked for their aggressor.

Ash had made it to Pikachu at this point and he quickly bent down and scooped up the mouse. He had enough room in his arms to hold both, as neither was very large. Hunching over to cover them from the rain and further attacks Ash started running through the forest. Even barely looking, he unconsciously managed to navigate through the woods towards his house.

The flock had reorganized itself and begun to pursue the escapee's. Several of the paralyzed Spearow had shaken it off and were also joining the pursuit, they had a personal score to settle with the Pikachu now. The trees weren't very dense so the flock had no problem flying low amongst the trees. They quickly caught up to the boy and the Spearow began to harshly peck at his back and shoulders. Several even were trying to crack his skull open. Thankfully for Ash these were all rather weak Spearow and none were close to strong enough to pierce into that thick bone. It still hurt like hell though.

Murkrow are smarter than Spearow. It was a known fact, and amongst the Pokémon world Spearow were actually one of the least intelligent, which is partly where all their aggression came from, other Pokémon constantly made fun of their small brains. Such as the very sarcastic Pokémon they had previously been pecking to death. The Murkrow had just been hungry and saw the Spearow, and for some reason had been able to convince the Spearow to let them join in. But the Murkrow saw that the boy was not going to be done in by simple pecking on his back.

So one flew off ahead of the boy and started a Gust attack to try to blow the boy off his feet. The other two involved flew down and pecked at the boy's knees. One landed a very lucky peck on the boy's right knee and the bone was deeply bruised. The damaged bone and the Gust were too much for Ash and he collapsed forward but managed not to come crushing down on the Pokémon he carried. The flock flew up and began cawing their victory as they flew a circle around the downed figure. They were taunting the boy and the Pokémon, no one messed with them and got away with it. Ash would have none of it. Fighting back to his feet he looked down at Pikachu.

"Hey Pikachu buddy. I'm sorry I got you involved in this. So listen up alright," as Ash spoke he pulled a pokéball out of his pocket and pressed it against the green figure. He captured it within the ball and shrunk the ball down to its small size. "I know you couldn't normally carry this guy out of here, but I know you could run away with this small pokéball. So I want you to take it and run back to my mother and the house. You will be safe there, don't worry about me I will distract the Spearow and be back home after I defeat them."

Pikachu gazed up at the boy who held him. That feeling from earlier was back, however he in fact had even less time to try to figure it out then earlier. He couldn't contemplate why this boy had done any of the things he had done today. It was completely against everything he had been told about humans. A feeling he was however familiar with began to surge through his veins, the determination within him now seared that he should help this boy out, and that meant not running away.

"Go run Pikachu!" Ash yelled setting the Pokémon and the pokéball down behind him. He saw a decent sized stick to his left and he bent down and picked it up. "Do you hear me Spearow, do you hear me Murkrow! I am Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town! And I won't be defeated by the likes of you!"

**BOOOM!**

Lightning struck down and a tree exploded nearby. The flock was in a frenzy, from the lightning to the human boy challenging them. In their frenzy they all tried to dive bomb him at once. Ash raised his right arm preparing to fight the flock to the last. In his extreme focus he managed to tap his aura slightly and a blue glow illuminated his eyes. The flock recognized it for what it was, one who could wield aura, however they did not understand the real circumstances and thought nothing of it. Ash's aura connected with Pikachu and through their new bond a lightning bolt thundered down to connect with Ash.

Pikachu however had already been in motion. He had sprung to Ash's shoulder and had then jumped directly up into the oncoming bolt. It connected with him. Pikachu felt energy like he had never felt before. Raw electric power in its natural and most powerful form surged into him. He knew he couldn't absorb that much power so he instead redirected it. He conducted the lightning while in mid and unleashed it into many smaller bolts into the flock. As it struck the small bolts leapfrogged off each target and they bounced around between them all. Each bird was struck multiple times. Unable to handle the electricity the flock were nearly all paralyzed and those that weren't, were still too heavily damaged to do anything but fall to the ground with the others.

Ash caught Pikachu as he fell down from his jump. The small mouse was able to stay conscious long enough to hear the boy say, "Wow, Pikachu you are the best Pokémon I could have ever asked for. Thank you." the mouse remembered nothing after that as he was utterly drained. To redirect the lightning bolt he had used the last bit of electricity he had within himself.

Turning around Ash picked up the injured Pokémon's ball and held them both as he moved back to his house as quickly as he could. When he arrived home, soaking wet and limping, his mother couldn't help but notice how torn his shirt was and all the blood that was leaking from the numerous gashes including the large one on his shoulder. Ash smiled at his mother and managed a few words.

"Hey mom, I'm home, and before you ask," he held out the injured Pokémon's pokéball. "This Pokémon needs immediate medical attention and Pikachu as well, he got struck by lightning and I'm not sure if it overloaded him or not." He then promptly collapsed to the floor as his mother's scream faded away along with his ability to stay awake.


	3. PP Ch3

**Official Pokémon Trainer's Handbook**

**Other Regions:**

Within the League there are currently six regions. Each one has its own set of gyms and tournaments. But they all follow the same rank system and have a Grand Tournament. These regions are where the master rank trainers for the Masters Tournament come from. However there are regions that are independent from the League. Some use the same rank and tournament system as the League but currently aren't part of it, while others have their own unique rank system. Trainers that are on par with master rank trainers still aren't invited to the Masters Tournament. They however could go and earn the rank of master in one of the six regions.

Trainers who grow up and live within the League are usually given their rank within their home region. However it is possible to travel to other regions and compete to try to earn higher ranks. But to compete in a region you must earn their badges. So a challenger level trainer from one region could go to another and fight the gym leaders there for challenger level badges and could then compete in that regions Grand Tournament. Master rank is assigned to the region you gain it in.

So, if a Kanto elite trainer manages to defeat 25 of the Sinnoh champions Pokémon they would then become a Sinnoh master rank trainer, but are still only considered an elite rank Kanto trainer. However there master rank would allow them to challenge any other master level trainer to a master level match. Master rank trainers may only challenge for champion status of whichever region they have earned master rank in. It is technically possible to earn master rank in more than one region, however you are considered to be a master of whatever region you first obtained the rank.

In the Masters Tournament one goes and represents whatever region they were made master rank in. It is a very high bragging right among regions for whichever one takes home the tournament every ten years. There is a fierce rivalry between regions at this time.

Some view regions with fewer masters as weaker. Saying that region doesn't produce high quality trainers. However others also say those regions with more master level trainers are weaker since their champion has lost so many times to produce more master rank trainers. Either fact can be true, it changes based on the current champions and their challengers. However if one were to have champions battle they would find that every champion is usually on a similar if not identical skill level. A one sided master level match is practically unheard of.

**End of Section**

* * *

_South Western Edge of Viridian Forest_

It had been three months since Ash's first day as a Pokémon trainer. He could still recall the crazy day he had been through.

_Flashback_

After receiving his best friend Pikachu as a starter Pokémon he had spent the day showing off his home town to the yellow mouse. His plan had been to develop a bond of friendship with Pikachu. In the end he had succeeded but not by any normal method. Pikachu and Ash had wandered off into the forest surrounding Pallet, and had encountered a flock of Spearow and Murkrow attacking a wounded Pokémon. Without the Ash had charged in and rescued the Pokémon. Attempting to flee the Pokémon had left Ash several scratched and bruised. His left shoulder had been torn into by a diving Murkrow and still had a rough scar. A storm that had been brewing all day finally unleashed it's fury on the land with lightning strikes mixed into heavy rain. Attempting to distract the flock Ash had told Pikachu to run away with his new second Pokémon that he had just captured in a pokéball so Pikachu could carry it out. A lightning bolt had flown down at Ash's head but Pikachu had jumped up and intercepted it, then redirecting it he had blown away all their pursuers. Ash only barely made it home in time to explain to his mother that his Pokémon needed medical attention before, he himself blacked out from blood loss and exhaustion.

The next day around 2pm a very well rested Ash had woken up in his bedroom. After screaming at the sight of him, Ash's mother had quickly responded and identified that Ash's shoulder needed to be bandaged, his other cuts could been dealt with later. So she found some medical wrap in her emergency supplies and wrapped his shoulder. As he had found out later from his mother, she had then jumped into the car with unconscious Ash in the back seat and sped over to Oak's Lab.

There was no Pokémon Center or hospital within Pallet, but Oak had lots of medical equipment to take care of Pokémon and he had some experience with human injuries as well. So, being a close friend and with Ash as one of his new pupils Oak gladly helped out by healing the two Pokémon and helping Delia finish cleaning Ash up. The heavily wounded Pokémon he had captured had turned out to be a Snivy. Snivy are a grass Pokémon and also a starter Pokémon from the Unova region. How one had ended up around Pallet Town no one but the Snivy could say.

Later that day after waking up and finding Pikachu, Ash found Snivy and explained to it, with a bit of help from Pikachu what had happened the previous day. Ash then asked Snivy if it would be ok with joining the team since after all Ash had captured it. After the explanation Snivy was still unsure if it wanted to join. So he asked Pikachu what he thought of this trainer, he figured the two must have known each other for a bit. To his surprise Pikachu had told him that he only met him yesterday but after the events of yesterday Pikachu found himself willing and wanting to befriend Ash. He recommended to Snivy that he give his trainer a try.

Ash had stood aside while the two conversed, he had no idea what they were saying but he figured it must be about him after asking Snivy that question. To his slight surprise and immense excitement the small snake had agreed to join.

The next day Ash had risen at 8, and made his way over to Oak's. The professor had told him that every day unless instructed otherwise he was to be over to the lab by 8:30. He met the other four and had Snivy wrapped around his neck while Pikachu perched on his right shoulder. They all had their Pokémon within their pokéballs. But Ash had found that neither Snivy nor Pikachu wanted to go back in and he had no problem with them being out and with him.

The others hadn't heard what had happened to Ash yet, so he explained yesterday and even slightly bragged, at least toward Gary how he already had two Pokémon and was way ahead of them on their journeys. Oak had interrupted before the two could start arguing and had then explained what their schedule was going to look like for the foreseeable future. Every day at 8:30 they would meet at the lab and begin physical workouts. It was designed to increase their Pokémon's strength, speed, and endurance. Oak had recommended that the trainer's workout alongside their Pokémon as it inspired their Pokémon to try harder.

Since Ash and Snivy were still injured from yesterday they were going to have to just watch. Pikachu, determined to get stronger since yesterday he had been unable to defeat a flock of bird Pokémon which he just couldn't stand, worked the hardest of the gathered Pokémon.

Gary was too lazy to workout with his Squirtle and contented himself with sitting in a lawn chair shouting directions. Blue was a rather shy boy. He was taller than Ash by several inches, had blue eyes, and had blue hair that was cut short and combed to one side. He was too timid and worried he would embarrass himself if he tried to work out so he stood off to one side and quietly tried to coach his Squirtle.

Leaf was a peppy girl of middling height with long brown hair that fell down her back and sides. She had bright green eyes and was energetically trying to work out with her Bulbasaur. She would quickly tire out and end up just trying to coach Bulbasaur. Ruby had dark red hair with black tips that was shoulder height and her bangs fell down her face and covered the right side of it. She had amazing red eyes, which glimmered like her namesake in the light. She was the one Ash knew the least about. She chose to be alone then with others. She spoke little but her words often conveyed that she was extremely intelligent. She had been running laps with her Charmander and had been able to keep pace with it the whole time.

Around 11:30 Oak stopped them and had everyone come inside to eat lunch. He told them from now on to bring a prepared lunch and dinner as he would have them here all day. At noon, after lunch Oak took them to a room he had set up that look extremely like a classroom. Here he covered tactics and battle strategy. He started off with basic ideas that they could implement in any fight. He spent the first week drilling into their heads that the basics were of utmost importance. At 1:30 it was back outside, this time however they were to work on moves. They could either spend their time trying to teach their Pokémon new moves, new ways to use their moves, or they were expected to spam their moves over and over to build up endurance.

At 5, they would break for dinner. The Pokémon were thoroughly exhausted at this point, and all the trainers felt bad for them expect Gary who had laughed at his Squirtle and told it to work harder it if was already tired. After dinner at 5:30 Oak had told the kids to spend an hour either relaxing or playing with their Pokémon. At 6:30 Oak gathered them together outside and told them that during this period what he covered would be different. But for several months he would be teaching them basic survival and camping skills. The kids worked tirelessly through Oak's lessons all day but even Gary couldn't hide that fact he was tired. At 8:30 Oak called it a day and told them for the next 8 years they would be doing twelve hour days. He told them for a while it would be very difficult but it would start getting easier and when they were finished there Pokémon would be extremely powerful.

Over the course of the following three months, once Ash had healed he had worked out as hard as he could along with Pikachu and Snivy. The three had become friends during this time and Ash was never seen without his two Pokémon attached to him. Gary had never started working out with his Squirtle. Blue hadn't either but he was at least nice to his Squirtle as it trained. Leaf had attempted every day to work with her Bulbasaur but she was lacking motivation as she didn't see why she should work out and would often quit 30 minutes to an hour into the workout. Ruby mostly just ran laps, however she did other workouts and calmly kept her Charmander company.

During the after lunch sessions, Gary would often doze off and daydream or doodle, he didn't pay attention to what his grandfather was trying to teach them. Blue and Ruby were both quiet and astute. Leaf would interrupt the professor multiple times a day to ask him questions. About half were on topic. Ash would occasionally ask a question when he didn't understand something Oak was saying, which would draw a snicker and a whispered comment of, "idiot," from Gary. He ignored Gary and focused on the lessons. During move training Gary either yelled at his Squirtle for not knowing a move or left it to, "shoot a lot of water at that tree," for the duration of this session. Everyone else trained their Pokémon hard during this time and Ash even more so as he had two to focus on.

Pikachu especially, after about a month Ash had told Pikachu his dream and how he hoped that his best friend (Pikachu) would be willing to help. He had asked if Pikachu wanted to get stronger and the mouse had nodded. Together they had promised one another to train as hard as they could and become the strongest in the world. Snivy had been listening, and while saddened to hear Ash didn't talk to him about it was really surprised when Ash called his name out and told him to stop hiding and come over to them. He told Snivy he thought he was his other best friend and he wanted to together, the three of them because the best ever.

During the play session, Ash would often lounge about with Pikachu and Snivy relaxing, or they would have mock battles between the two. Ash realized, that aside from only working on strength, and speed and attacks, his Pokémon needed to learn to dodge. So around the time they made the pact he told them his idea. During move training the two would fire their attacks at each other and train on dodging. Oak had noticed Ash doing this but kept quiet about it. Part of being a trainer was learning to train your Pokémon yourself. And if the others hadn't figured out the flaw in their Pokémon's training Oak wasn't going to tell since he specifically left the gap there.

During the survival training there wasn't much for the Pokémon to do so they often lounged about. Pikachu had tried to pay attention because if Ash was ever hurt he wanted to sort of know how to help. But during this session Gary paid more attention as this was more hands on and interesting. Gary didn't know too much about camping or survival, but he thought himself an expert strategist and Pokémon battler. Even though he has never had a battle.

After three months Oak had told them that he had taught them everything he knew about survival, camping, first aid, and bush craft. And that now they were going to test their knowledge with a two week camping trip. The first week he would stay and advise them. The second week he was going to leave. He however would be back to pick them up. He secretly left his Alakazam nearby to alert him if any real danger should emerge.

_Flashback End_

This is where Ash currently found himself. Camped out somewhere in the south western part of Viridian Forest. They had been here for a week and Oak had followed through and left. Secretly Ash was glad he was gone, as Oak had done nothing but supervise and hadn't helped out at all. He had just been an extra mouth to feed. And the kids were having a hard enough time getting enough food for all of them and their Pokémon. Thankfully for Ash, Pikachu was able to forage for itself and had found a berry trove. The mouse also had found an apple tree, which Ash and Pikachu secretly gorged themselves on every day. Snivy would either eat grass, leaves and flowers or go and eat some of the berries. No one else had said where they found the food they ate so it basically was a free for all among the trainers when it came to food.

Ash himself knew he would be willing to share if one of the others was starving, well maybe not Gary, but otherwise he wasn't cold hearted. Besides eating or finding food Ash spent his days wandering off to a clearing he had found the second day here. Each day he tried to keep up their training regime as he didn't want to fall behind and on a normal journey a trainer was usually travelling through the forest but they still needed to train, and most of it must have been done in the wilderness. Gary spent most of his time laying around the campsite as it turned out Gary was learning to play the guitar and he had brought his along. He was truly awful at it and the noise probably scared all the local Pokémon away. Not that Ash was complaining he didn't want to have to fend Rattata all the time. Oak would often complain about Rattata and Zubat when he told them some stories from his own journey.

During their tenure in the forest, Blue had captured a Caterpie and a Rattata. Leaf had found herself a Sentret and Pidgey, while Ruby had caught a Spearow and a Nidorino. Ash had seen several Pokémon but he had no interest in capturing them. He wasn't on a quest to catch 'em all, no he was on a quest to be the world's greatest trainer, and while he knew he needed a variety. He had no interest in capturing every Pokémon he saw. He needed to slowly acquire Pokémon he wanted, and to build up a strong team and keep working with them till they achieved his/their dream. Gary hadn't seen another Pokémon since he was rarely out of camp besides when he went to eat and he was usually playing his guitar as he went out.

Several days passed by and nothing eventful happened except Leaf asking everyone what they had been eating. She didn't ask where but ended up asking Ash if she could trade a fish Blue had traded her for several apples. In agreement Ash had eaten fish the next day, Pikachu and Snivy had no interest. It was the final day and everyone was gathered around the campsite early in the morning. Everyone was feeding their Pokémon there as they didn't know when Oak would arrive and they didn't want to be out in the forest. That was the first time Gary realized everyone else had caught several Pokémon.

"H-hey," Gary exclaimed. "When did you all capture Pokémon?"

"What do you mean Gary? This is the first time we have been anywhere since we became trainers that wasn't Pallet Town. And there aren't very many wild Pokémon around Pallet. Why wouldn't we capture Pokémon?" Leaf responded slightly confused.

"Uh... well the Pokémon around here are weak I can't imagine why you would capture them," Gary started unsure but quickly caught himself and returned to his usual sneer. The Pokémon around the clearing all bristled at his comment. Most of them were from this area.

Somewhat out of her normal character, Ruby responded in an even tone, "the Pokémon here are not weak, while after three months of hard training our Pokémon might be above their level, this is still a rather calm area with your standard variety of beginner Pokémon. They aren't weak, in fact I believe the reason you don't have a Pokémon is because you are an incompetent trainer." Everyone was stunned, not really because what she said but because she said so much at one time. Not to lose a verbal argument, much less one to a girl, Gary said.

"Oh yeah? Well then you keep your weak trash, I will stick with just Squirtle here. Maybe later when we find some Pokémon that are actually worth my time I will catch them. You keep going along and capturing weak Pokémon. I mean look at Ash he hasn't caught any Pokémon here. He can tell they are weak too."

Gary's words were striking a chord within Ash. It was true no Pokémon in the surrounding area had interested him at all. But then he caught sight of Pikachu. And his emotions flared. The feeling in the camp changed. Perhaps it was the air temperature heating up several degrees, or maybe it was because the air felt much thicker with tension. Ash spoke up and his voice cut through the building tension like an Iron Tail through butter.

His voice was quiet and his tone held little emotion but one look into his eyes and one could see his anger flaring, "you know Gary, Viridian Forest is a known as one of the places around Kanto you can catch Pikachu. In fact at the apple tree I've been eating from we ran into several Pikachu. So are you implying that my Pikachu is trash as well? I am sure he is from around here. Professor Oak definitely didn't travel that far to catch another Pokémon one of us could use as a starter."

Gary knew he struck a nerve. But he believed himself to be Ash's better in every way, and one of his favorite things to do as to taunt the shorter boy. "Huh, must have slipped my mind Ashy boy, but now that you mention it your Pikachu looks just as weak as every other Pokémon here," Gary's sneering voice pissed Ash off. Now over the last three months Gary had been lazing about while Ash had trained hard alongside his Pokémon for hours every day. Three months was by no means a long amount of time when it came to one developing a strong physique. But compared to Gary, Ash definitely was stronger.

So as he tackled the brown haired boy to the ground he wasn't surprised with how easy it was to overpower Gary and keep him pinned to the ground. Now, Oak had been instructing them in Pokémon battling tactics. He hadn't once mentioned anything on how to fight themselves. And among other things head-butting was a perfectly viable strategy for Pokémon to use. So naturally Ash assumed the same would work for him. So he rammed his forehead hard down onto Gary's forehead. A dull thud could be heard quickly followed by two cries of pain as Ash rolled off Gary and miserable rolled around on the grass. Gary just lay there, clutching his forehead as pain pulsed through his head.

"Ash!" Leaf yelled out. She along with the other two were extremely surprised by what just happened. When Ash jumped Gary they all stood there in shock. And hadn't reacted till he tried to see whose skull was thicker. As they all would later find out, Ash's skull was surprisingly thick, literally and figuratively. Blue ran over to the motionless Gary and began trying to administer any aid he could. Lead and Ruby clustered around Ash who had finally stopped rolling and lay on his side. "Ash, you idiot, why would you do a stupid thing like that?" Leaf said glaring down at him. Ash weakly made eye contact and grinned at her.

"Well Professor Oak said using a Head Butt is a smart thing to do in a situation where your Pokémon might be pinned or is incapable of using its other appendages, and you don't want it to fire an attack where it could be injured by it as well." Leaf didn't know how to respond to that, but Ruby actually laughed at it. She laughed so rarely that everyone was surprised because they had basically forgotten what it sounded like.

"Ash, you idiot everything professor Oak covers can be applied to Pokémon. Humans are very different from Pokémon. I would advise not trying to integrate those lessons into any other fights you might be personally involved in," Her mini lecture over Ruby walked over to her Pokémon and recalled them all. Then turned toward a part of the forest and said, "Hello professor, I am happy to report we had a perfect week all up until the very end, right as you arrived actually."

Professor Oak had arrived right as the conversation with Gary had begun and he stayed silently hidden to listen to it as it caught his interest. He was extremely shocked at what Gary had to say about Pokémon and was only slightly surprised when Ash attacked him. The Head Butt however caught him off guard at how ridiculous the Ketchum boy could be.

Oak sighed and revealed himself. "Hello to you too Ruby, and everyone else. Blue," he said locking eyes with said boy. "Is Gary ok?"

"Y-Yes I think so sir, he might have a small concussion but I don't know. Sorry sir."

"Ahh that is ok no need to be apologizing. Hmm and Leaf, what would you say of Ash?"

Said boy sat up and groaned, "Urrh, I'm ok Professor."

'Doesn't surprise me,' Oak thought. 'That boy's head is as thick as a Geodude.'

"Alright well I am back, your week alone is finished and Alakazam here is going to teleport us back home. So please gather round."

With that Alakazam raised his spoons and in a flash the campsite, tent and all was teleported to outside Oak's lab where they had been learning about camping.

"Now pack this up and you can all go home and rest for the day. But I expect you here at 8:30 tomorrow morning. We will be starting something new this evening instead of survival and camping training," With that the children got to work so they could go relax. In Gary and Ash's case so they could go receive some medical attention from Oak.


	4. PP Ch4

**Official Pokémon Trainer's Handbook**

**Training Techniques:**

There is an infinite number of different ways to train Pokémon. This section will discuss common ideas in training methods. Most people train Pokémon to battle other Pokémon. Well In battle you naturally want your Pokémon to win. So giving your Pokémon every possible advantage helps a lot. Most beginning trainers completely neglect training and only focus on gaining battle experience. While experience is very important in Pokémon battles you need more than that to win. Common things to train your Pokémon in are physical strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes. It is possible to train in pain tolerance but it is a frowned up and most of the time illegal practice. Pokémon will be encouraged to train and battle harder when the trainer physically trains alongside them.

Training Pokémon in moves is also a strategy. Move stamina and power can be increased by experience, physical ability and through repetitive practice. By having your Pokémon practice its moves you might develop a new way to use it in battle when watching its affects in different situations.

Teaching a Pokémon a new move is fairly simple. If a Pokémon is capable of learning a new move it should instinctively know how to use it. But a good idea is to have a Pokémon familiarize itself with every move it knows so it can perform them to its fullest. It is easier for Pokémon to learn new moves instinctively when they know all their other moves, as they just follow the new instinct they haven't felt before. There are also TM's and HM's, having your Pokémon train these moves is a must before battle.

Each trainer will find and develop their own ways and methods for training their Pokémon. And almost no one ever shares these secrets so think hard before sharing training secrets.

**End of Section**

* * *

After returning from the camping trip Gary and Ash were deemed to be fine medically. Neither had a concussion, but Gary did have a nice big bruise. Oak told his pupils to be at the lab the next day at their regular time to resume training.

After splitting up Blue, Leaf and Ruby went to their houses to sleep in a bed for the first time in what seemed like forever to them. As Ash was walking home he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Hey Ashy Boy, who do you think you are Head Butting me? It is time I showed you your place, let's battle right now one on one," Gary's snide tone easily got under Ash's skin.

"Oh yeah Gary? No problem, Pikachu I choose you!" Ash said while looking at the fire dancing in his partner's eyes.

"Squirtle get out here, I expect you to wipe the floor easily here," Gary said as he called his Squirtle out.

"Pikachu Thunder Shock!" Ash called out, taking the initiative. Squirtle was waiting for Gary's command. Every time he did something on his own Gary got mad at him. As a nice loyal Pokémon he did his best to please his trainer. But nothing had worked yet. He hoped to impress his trainer by winning this battle. So Squirtle waited for the command as he stared down the yellow energy heading his way. And he waited. And waited some more. But Gary never said anything as he was too busy keeping his nose pointed up in the air to show his ability to win without effort to Ash. Sadly for Gary and more so for Squirtle, Ash and Pikachu had been training hard. Pikachu's Thunder Shock slammed right into Squirtle and sent the poor turtle to his back, fried and smoking and blissfully into unconsciousness.

Gary could only gape at what he saw. He had planned to let Squirtle shake the hit off, then easily beat Ash no problem. His Pikachu was really weak after all right? His young mind couldn't comprehend what happened so he jumped to the most obvious conclusion.

"Ch-Cheater! You are a cheater Ash!" He yelled across the street. Gary ran over and grabbed his Squirtle then ran to find his grandfather to heal his Squirtle back to full health.

_The next day  
8:30 am_

Ash had been rather mad that Gary called him a cheater. He had won fair and square, it was not his fault if Gary sucked at battling. But he decided to forget about it and for once not rub it in Gary's face. He had explained the encounter to his mother and she had recommended that he not insult Gary as Gary had probably had his belief on the world shattered from losing. Ash only sort of knew what his mother was trying to say but it sounded bad enough so he agreed to leave Gary alone.

He was now seated in the lab to begin today's training, along with him in the room were Blue, Ruby and Leaf. Ten minutes later Oak walked in.

"Sorry I'm late today everyone. I had an issue to clear up with Gary. He will not be joining us today but expect him to be back tomorrow with an attitude change." With that said everyone but Ash wondering why Gary would change his attitude but now Ash understood what his mother had meant yesterday.

"Since you have finished off my course of survival training, I will now be teaching you a complimentary skill of navigation at the end of each day. You will learn how to find your way through the wilderness should you ever become lost and travelling along the routes in the different regions will be a breeze once I am finished with you. This training will go on till I believe you are all capable enough to never be lost," Oak finished with a smile.

"Now I saw that you all, besides Ash, captured more Pokémon. So since Gary is absent today instead of jumping into navigation you will have an extended play time to get to know your new Pokémon better. Also the physical regiment you have done for the last three months will now be harder. I have weights for you to attach to all your Pokémon. They are only small two pound weights. As your Pokémon grow stronger the weight will increase." The kids felt bad for their Pokémon as they saw a sadistic gleam in Oak's eye.

And so the day continued. None of the new Pokémon received weights as they were new to the program and wouldn't get them for a while. While those that did strutted around showing off how much stronger than their new counterparts they were. That did not sit well with said counterparts and only increased their determination to train as hard as they could.

Ash could be seen working out the whole time with his Pokémon as they ran laps, lifted heavy objects, did sprints and they attempted to target the different muscle groups on the different bodies each of the three had. Ash had asked for weights of his own and Oak had anticipated the request and presented them to the boy. Oak recommended that those with weights leave them on all day to help train them.

Ruby had gotten weights as well but opposed to the four Ash got, one for each limb, Ruby only got one for each leg. She did the running with her Pokémon as usual but didn't work alongside them in anything else. But her Pokémon didn't mind, they appreciated that she at least did some exercise with them.

Leaf attempted to work alongside her Pokémon but just like in the previous three months she was easily discouraged when it became hard and stopped to cheer her Pokémon along. She passed on weights for herself.

Blue hadn't taken the weights but he decided to join in with running alongside his Pokémon. From the brief survival trip he realized being in good shape was important and if he ever needed to run from something he wanted to be able to.

Battle strategy was a bit more advanced that day but nothing crazy. So far Oak had drilled the basics into their heads. Like type effectiveness and terrain advantages.

Move training was more chaotic that day as with the increased numbers of Pokémon there was a lot more going on. A lot of the Pokémon only knew basic physical attacks like Tackle, Scratch, Bite, Peck and things like Growl, Tail Whip, and String Shot. Ash's Pokémon were further along than that.

Pikachu knew:  
Tackle  
Bite  
Tail Whip  
Thunder Shock  
Spark  
Head Butt  
Nuzzle

Snivy knew:  
Head Butt  
Tackle  
Vine Whip  
Leer  
Growth  
Wrap  
Razor Leaf

Currently Ash was sure his Pokémon were well trained in Tackle and Head Butt. And in Pikachu's case he had Tail Whip and Thunder Shock down as well. While Snivy had Vine Whip and Leer well practiced. Ash had his Pokémon train with one move exclusively till they were able to do it in their sleep. He wanted his Pokémon to have full mastery over their moves. And with Pikachu by expending all the electricity the mouse had it within itself each day. Pikachu was building up his electricity reserves. Snivy was able to strengthen his vines by lifting heavier and heavier objects. Once these two had mastered a move well enough in Ash's opinion he had them practice them on one another to practice their aim and dodging. Hitting a moving target was much harder than a stationary one.

These mock battles were only between Ash's Pokémon. Ash didn't switch it up with the others. And the others still didn't have their Pokémon practicing to dodge. The others took their time showing their new Pokémon what this time period was used for and learning what moves their new Pokémon knew. While their starter just continued practicing moves on the surround rocks and trees.

The move session of the day came to an end, and after a filling dinner everyone had the rest of the day to mingle and relax. Ruby, Leaf, and Blue all went to separate parts of the clearing behind Oak's lab and chatted and tried to make their new Pokémon feel welcome and at ease. Ash and his two went right into a game of hide and seek.

* * *

Gary had spent all day thinking hard about his discussion with his Grandfather. Oak had told him how Gary's training method showed his laziness and that Ash had been training hard with his Pokémon. The difference in skill was obvious during their short battle. Oak also explained to Gary how no Pokémon was weak and any of them could be made into a very capable battler, it came down to the bond between Pokémon and trainer though. And by the way Gary had treated his Squirtle, their bond would be tenuous at best until Gary made a real effort on his part.

So with his Grandfather's permission, Gary had wandered out into the forest around Pallet Town. Over the course of the day, Gary had encountered several Rattatas and a flock of Pidgey. At mid-day Gary realized he hadn't spoken to Squirtle since the battle yesterday. Squirtle appeared and looked around quickly to figure out where he was. Squirtle thought his worst nightmare was coming true.

'Oh no! Gary is going to release me into the wild. I failed him yesterday and he wants nothing to do with such a weak pathetic Pokémon like me,' Thought a sad little turtle. But to Squirtle's surprise Gary did something he had never done.

Down on his knees Gary looked at Squirtle and beckoned him over. "Squirtle..." Gary said in a sad quiet tone. "Squirtle I am sorry. I've failed you as a trainer and if you want to be released so one day a better trainer can find you and make you the Pokémon you want to be, then I'll understand." Gary then made eye contact with his Pokémon.

"But Squirtle, I promise you. If you stay with me things will change... I will change. I've been a bad trainer and I want to make it up to you. We have not neglected our past training time, but I've made poor use of it with you for sure." With that Gary paused and waited for a response.

Squirtle looked at Gary confused for a moment. Where was the cocky trainer he knew? And who is this whiny brat. One reason Squirtle had liked Gary so much was because of Gary's large ego and confidence. It had inspired Squirtle and made him feel appreciated. So Squirtle did what he thought was best. He shot a jet of water and hit Gary in the face. He then ran over to the sputtering boy. Squirtle waited till Gary looked at him and then held out his paw. Gary looked at Squirtle in wonder. When his Pokémon had sprayed him, he thought it was to try and cover an escape. But now here he was paw extended. So Gary reached out and grabbed a hold, with a quick shake their partnership was reborn.

"Squirt squirt squirtle!" The turtle exclaimed.

"Squirtle, you and I are gonna to go places. But first do you want to go and capture a new training buddy? I figure you must be getting kinda lonely as my only Pokémon. And everyone else has at least two." Squirtle nodded an affirmative and right as they both were about to prepare to find a new friend, the large bushes near them started rustling loudly. A dark shadow jumped out of the bushes and barked at the duo. With a grin at what he saw Gary stood up.

"Alright Squirtle time to battle!"


End file.
